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“Pew cushions”, “pew padding,”pew upholstery” – call it what you will, answers don’t come in black and white. So if you ask us, “Can I keep my old church cushions? What can I do to save money on my worship seating reupholstery?” Get comfortable because we’ll have some questions for you!

If you just NOW started doing your research, I want to offer you some tips so that you can ask the RIGHT QUESTIONS when you make that first call.

Your options are pretty cut and dry:

1. Trade in your old pews for new pews
2. Dump the old pews and BUY new ones
3. Dump the old pews and BUY refurbished/used pews
4. Restore/re-upholster existing pews and other church seating

Option #4 is normally the most economical, but the cost can be cut down even further if you decide to go that route. Here’s how:

KEEP IT OR DUMP IT?

FIRST OF ALL you can ask about reusing your old foam. Keep in mind that this can ONLY be accomplished if your pews have fixed upholstery already. Foam (or cushion) in pews is a petroleum-based product and is one the largest expenses in the pew refurbishing process. On most occasions the foam in your seating will out last the life of your fabric, and will certainly outlast its currency with modern fabric trends. This all depends on the density of the foam.

Take a seat in your pew. Do you feel like you bottom out or feel like you’re almost sitting directly on the wood? This is an indication that it is probably a good time to update your foam. However if there is still a degree of support, you may want to considering reusing it.

BUT REMEMBER to weigh-out your immediate savings with the the possibility of having to get this whole process done again in five years instead of the standard 10-20!

This is NOT an easy decision. We know!

ADD SUPPORT TO YOUR PEWS VERSUS COMPLETE REPLACEMENT

Let’s consider that you feel you have a solid 8+ years left in your foam. You may be able to increase that time by having the upholsterers bolster the old pew foam with a narrow strip of new pew foam underneath. This small addition makes a world of difference and even provides a degree of wrinkle protection in your pew upholstery.

McPhail Church Services is one of very few (if not the ONLY) company in our service region that offers this level of customizable services. The main reason for this is that we don’t do subcontracting our pew restoration services. We do it all ourselves! So we can personalize your quote over the phone without having to seek-out approval from any servicing companies.

Negotiating your foam, can save you up to $4/foot. If you have 200 feet worth of pews, that’s already $800! If you’re looking for a quote or have additional questions about this topic, call us using the number at the top of this page OR request a phone call by clicking on the following link: Pew Upholstery and Services QUOTES

We get this question quite often and the truth is, you don’t need a salesman or on-site pew consultant to tell you what you need – you can determine for yourself if you need to replace your church pews or just “freshen it up” a bit with pew reupholstering!

First, inspect your pews and pulpit seating AS a member of your congregation or as the pastor (respectively). Take notice of a few things:

1. Is the seat failing?
2. When you sit down, are you making contact with the hard surface below?
3. Do you feel significant inconsistencies in the pew padding?
4. Are you hearing cracking or stresses in the wood?
5. Are the seats rocking every time someone sits, stands or fidgets?
6. Are there cracks on the legs that may or may not eventually completely falter and cause the pew to collapse? This one is an extreme example, but you can’t be too careful with guest safety sometimes.

At the end of the day, most church furniture issues can be resolved with upgrades, church pew upholstery, restorations or repairs. Going with these options will save you money more often than not when compared to purchasing an entirely new seating system.

We can help you do the math!

Pew Repairs and Upgrades

Let’s say you decide, “Ok, I don’t want to buy new church furniture. What can we do instead to address the deficiencies in what I already own?”

Well, let’s begin with the wood itself. When the fabric and foam are removed and the seat frame is exposed, plywood can be added for additional support. This fix can add many years to the life of church seating.

If you find that your pew legs are cracking or in danger or falling apart in some way, it is important that you contract a company that will make replacement legs for you either on-site or prior to arriving to do the job. Many companies will outsource this service causing the completion of the job to be delayed by weeks in some cases. Be careful and make sure that the company you hire GUARANTEES the entire job will be done on location! Otherwise, you can expect significant delays.

Reupholstery of existing pews with new high density foam is the most economical way to upgrade the beauty of your sanctuary seating for about half the cost of new pews with no disruption of services. One of the things our customers love is that we do a sample as soon as we arrive!

Whether you hire us or not, we want to help. Call or contact McPhail Church Services with your questions or concerns and we’ll give you some helpful tips on how to deal with your service providers and on how to cross-check the information they give you. And if we feel we can give you a better deal, we’d love the opportunity to give you a quote as well.

Thank you and good luck!